LOS ANGELES – Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today filed a $6.6 million lawsuit against eight car washes owned by members of the Sikder family — proprietors of the Hollywood restaurant named Koi — after an investigation revealed a “widespread pattern of worker exploitation,” unpaid wages and illegal business practices.

“While Koi served up yellowtail tartare and Kobe beef carpaccio to Hollywood celebrities, the restaurant’s owners routinely denied wages, breaks and overtime pay to workers at their unlicensed car washes,” Brown said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to end this widespread pattern of worker exploitation.”

Investigators interviewed more than 80 workers and found the car washes routinely denied workers minimum wage and overtime, failed to pay wages owed to those who quit or were terminated, denied rest and meal breaks, and created false records of time worked.